Yeast separator bowl



Feb. 16, 1937. N E SVENSJ 2,070,966

YEAST SEPARATOR BOWL Filled Feb. 13, 1954 Patented Feb. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE YEAST SEPARATOR BOWL Application February 13, 1934, seri-a1 No. 710,994 l In Sweden February Z5', 1933 1 Claim. (Cl. 233-46) y as above described, results in the sludge deposits It is known in the art to remove yeast or yeastlike matters suspended in a liquid `(wort) by means of separators provided with discs. Separators of this type have liquid outlets' from the bowl of such construction that the liquid which has been liberated from yeast is discharged through an outlet comparatively near to the center of the bowl, while the portion that mainly consists of yeast or yeast-like matters is discharged through channels which lead the yeast from the peripheral part of the separating chamber of the bowl inwardly to discharge nozzles located at a radial distance from the bowl center as small as possible consistent with avoiding the blocking of the channels by the yeast; the purpose being to reduce power consumption as compared with that required to operate bowls having outlet nozzles at the periphery of the bowl. In liquids containing yeast or yeast-like matters there is always a good proportion of sludge which comes from the vegetable raw material for the production of the alimentary liquid (the wort). A good deal of this sludge may often stick to the intermediary discs of the separator bowl so that Aiinally a complete blockage of the space between the discs may occur. A blockage and deposition of sludge in the pile of discs will be particularly marked at the height ofand just outside the radius to which the level of the liquid sinks when the supply of liquid to be separated is momentarily interrupted, said radius being exactly the same as that at which the outlet nozzles for the heavy component are located. In order to remove the depositions of sludge it is necessary to stop the bowl and then either clean it in the usual manner or (after it has been stopped) allow the greater part of the liquid contained in it to ow out and then, without any disassembling again put the bowl into motion, which causes the deposited sludge to be thrown out against the periphery of the bowl by the centrifugal force.

- The object of the present invention is to eliminate this inconvenience, that is, to make it possible to throw out the deposited sludge from the pile of discs by shutting off the supply of the liquid to be separated, thus making it unnecessary first to stop the bowl and then to put it into rotation again.

To this end the outlet nozzles are provided at a radius which is somewhat greater than the outer radius of the discs. If the supply to such a bowl of matter to be separated is shut off, the level o1' the liquid moves out to the radius of the sludge outlets. As this level is outside the pile of discs, the latter will be entirely free from liquid, Which,

bowl embodying my invention. It comprises a bowl body I0, a bowl hood II, a lock ring I2 se-n curing together the body and hood, a rubber ring I 3 confined between the body and ring, and a pile of discs I4. The discharge channel I5 for yeast or yeast-like material is formed in the bowl body and extends from the peripheral part of the bowl inward to an outlet which is positioned at a radial distance from the bowl center not less than about the radial distance from the bowl center of the outer edges of the discs I4.

The bowl hood II, as in known bo`wls, is of frustro-conical shape except at its lower end, which is of cylindrical shape, and the part of the bowl body I0 outside the discs has a frustroconical inner surface I6 extending upward from the bottom of the pile of discs I4 and its upper or outer circumferential end I'I contains the inlet opening to the discharge channel I5. In the most ecient embodiment of my invention the channelled part of the bowl body extends up to about the lower circumferential end of the frustro-conical part of the hood I I; that is, the outer circumferential edge of the end I'I is about coincident with the lower circumferential end of the frustro-conical portion of the hood, the cylindrically-shaped lower end of the hood being confined between the lock ring I 2 and the upper part of the channelled portion of the bowl body.

Owing to the frustro-conical surface of the bowl hood II and the frustro-conical surface I6 of the bowl body I0, the sludge, as in known bowls, slides into the pocket above the opening into discharge channel I5, but in the specific construction shown, this pocket has no cylindrical outer wall, but has a conical outer wall. Owing to the relatively great height of this pocket, as well as to the positioning of the outlet end of channel I5 outside the level of the outer edges of the discs, the direction of extension of the channel from its inlet end toward its outlet end is at a pronouncedly acute angle to the axis of the bowl.

When the supply of the mixture to be separated is shut off the level of the liquid inside the bowl will speedily coincide with the line x instead of with a line well within the circumference of the discs, and the sludge, instead of sticking to and depositing on the discs, will have been thrown out into the sludge space outside the discs; and when the mixture to be separated is again admitted to the bowl, the sludge is forced out through the channel l5. Thus it is unnecessary to stop the bowl in case admission of the mixture to be separated is temporarily interrupted.

There may be, and usually will be, a number of channels I5 arranged along uniformly spaced apart radii of the bowl. These channels may be equipped, at their outlet ends, with the usual nozzles which, forming no part of my invention, are not herein shown.

My improvement is not limited in its use to the treatment of liquids containing yeast, but is of utility in the treatment of other liquids containing heavy impurities that heretofore have been expelled either through an outlet terminating relatively close to the bowl axis or through an outlet in the peripheral wall of the bowl; as, for example, a liquid containing wort which has been produced from an unpuriiied beet sugar juice, or for the purification of wine.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A separator bowl comprising a body forming the bottom of the bowl and extending upward therefrom an outwardly inclined peripheral portion forming the lower part of the outer wall of the separating chamber, a hood forming the upper part of the outer wall of the separating chamber and extending outside said peripheral portion of the body, the upper face of which, with the adjacent inner wall of the hood forms a sludge pocket, said peripheral portion of the body having a discharge channel whose inlet is in the upper face of said rperipheral portion of the bowl body and in the bottom of said sludge pocket, a pile of discs in the separating chamber, the lower annular corner of the pile being positioned substantially below the level of said pocket and the inlet end of said channel, said channel' extending downward through said peripheral portion of the body at an angle substantially less than to the axis of the bowl and having an outlet located at a radial distance from the bowl axis not less than about the radial distance from the bowl axis of the circumferential edges of the discs.

NILS EDvN SVENSJ. 

